The writings of a big, gay, long cat. With assistance from a pair of thumbs and the manny they belong to.

Saturday, 8 April 2017

Big Gay Longcat reviews Doctor Who: Time and the Rani Part Three

Derp!

The episode begins with a quite lengthy reprise of the cliffhanger situation, leading up to the Doctor being stuck in a room with three hungry Tetraps surrounding him. The Beyus lets the Doctor out and gives the Tetraps some noms.

We are now over halfway through the story and the camp, colourful lighting in the Rani's laboratory has given way to dark and sinister lighting to indicate serious business is going on. The Doctor escapes, stealing an important thingy from the room as he does so.

The Doctor has escaped, but then Mel is captured straight away as if it is the rule in this story that only one of them can be free at a time. The Doctor meets Ikona and pushes a Tetrap into one of the Rani's bubble traps.

The Doctor and Ikona go to the Lakertyan "Centre of Leisure" (I'm not sure why this isn't just called a "leisure centre") looking for clues, and they see an evil disco ball. This helps restore some campness to the episode, which was in danger of falling to only Very Camp levels.

The evil disco ball releases flying things made of a special effect, and they make a Lakertyan extra go

The Rani exchanges Mel for the thingy the Doctor stole from the laboratory in a classic 'prisoner exchange' scene, like something out of The Sandbaggers, except it turns out it is a trick and Mel is really a Fake-Mel hologram that vanishes when the Doctor tries to give her a hug. Well at least that means that Burnside doesn't have to SPOILER REMOVED

Real-Mel is busy hanging upside down like a Tetrap. Does that mean she is now cat noms? Sadly I don't think we will ever know as she is soon back the right way up, making that scene a bit pointless.

The Doctor gets captured trying to get back into the laboratory to rescue Real-Mel, which mean that very little has actually progressed, plot-wise, during this episode. He gets put in the fridge with his name on it from part one, meaning that this was Chekhov's Fridge all along.

As the episode reaches its climax, the Rani goes into the secret room and we can finally get to see what is inside... it was worth the wait, because it is a big brain like in Ultraworld! And the cliffhanger ending is the Doctor's brain is being put into it, just like Avon's was!

This episode is entirely redeemed by the final few moments, in which the story reaches a whole new level of quality. While some might question the wisdom of borrowing plot elements from Ultraworld, which was only broadcast seven years before this and wasn't exactly the best episode of Blakes 7 anyway, I would counter by reminding those critics of the old cat proverb: "mediocrity borrows, genius steals."

Doctor getting sayings wrong count: 5
(Season running total: 14)

"All good things come to a bend.""Here's a turn up for the cook.""There's none so deaf as those that clutch at straws.""A bird in the hand keeps the Doctor away.""Out of the frying pan into the mire."